Wild 3, Blues 2 (SO)
Captain Mikko Koivu tied the game with 98 seconds remaining in the third period and Matt Cullen scored the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout as the Minnesota Wild extended their home winning streak to five games with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
After T.J. Oshie gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead six minutes into the third, Koivu one-timed a pass from defenseman Jared Spurgeon past Jaroslav Halak during a power play for his second goal of the game.
Koivu opened the second round of the shootout by lifting a backhander past Halak, but Oshie evened things on the Blues' next opportunity. Cullen then beat Halak with a wrist shot, and Josh Harding denied Kevin Shattenkirk to improve to 4-0-1 at home.
Minnesota, which is 2-0-0 on its six-game homestand, has won four straight overall.
Alex Steen notched two assists and Halak fell to 0-2-3 lifetime against Minnesota and 0-5-1 on the road this season for St. Louis, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Blues, who are 4-0-2 under new coach Ken Hitchcock, have lost four straight on the road.
David Backes opened the scoring midway through the first period, but Minnesota pulled even less than three minutes into the middle session. While shorthanded, Koivu stole the puck from Patrik Berglund behind St. Louis' net, skated out from the right side and beat Halak high to the glove side.